Reader's Art 12: Carolyn Halliday

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home  local artist Carolyn Halliday has said,"The Nested Book work is from an ongoing nest series begun in 2008 related to home and sparked by the continual, inexplicable appearance of nests in my life (falling on my head;  sticking to my leg, etc).  When explaining to a friend that I had no idea what this was about and why nest kept appearing in my life, she pointed out that I had just been talking about the transition of my son having left home for college."


Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home
March 16- April 26, 2012

Reader's Art 12 opening soon

Changing Landscapes by Elizabeth Carls

LONGING FOR HOME: Reader’s Art 12

March 16-April 26

Susan Hensel Gallery, 3441 Cedar Ave S, will take a break from retirement for the annual book extravaganza, Reader’s Art 12: Longing for Home , Friday March 16 with a reception and celebration for the artists from 7-10pm.  

This long running show is a national/international survey show of artists books originated by Ms. Hensel when she lived  in East Lansing, Michigan. Now in its twelfth consecutive year, forty two artists form the US, Canada and France responded to the call for artists books that considered the following questions:

What does home mean to you?

Is home a place, a building, a feeling, a belief system,a family, a way of being in the world?

What do you long for?

Not surprisingly, in these transitional times, many artists dwelt in nostalgia for a past time that may or may not have been their own.  There are also political pieces dealing with immigration, and environmental destruction of the planet.  There are pieces that deal with the body as the ultimate home, with identity.  There are beautiful, ethereal books; crudely natural books; creepy books; humorous books; elegant books.

Among the forty two artists are many local folks:  Carolyn Halliday, Phillip R. Luoma Anderson Elizabeth Carls, Maggie Miller, Mary Bergs and Beth Dorsey.

Most of the books may be handled and read. After all, what’s a book if you cannot read it?

Come join the fun, Friday, March 16, 7-10pm.

§  Reader’s Art 12 : Longing for Home

§  March 16- April 26, 2012

§  Susan Hensel Gallery

§  3441 Cedar Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55407

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The reception of the art was magnificent!

The reception for My Father's Religion coincided with dulcet, balmy weather and the weekend of the Minnesota Quilt Conference. My friend Debra, an art quilter, had come from NYC to see the quilts.
And a group of Korean art quilters were invited to exhibit at the convention. Their work was outstanding! And, they came to meet Carolyn at her reception. We ate cake for CR's birthday, drank wine, listened to live music next door at the Crown Cafe and generally had a wonderful evening!

The show continues through July 12. Do come by.

Hours are Mondays 10-5 and other days by very generous appointment.

Opening Reception June 17

Carolyn Halliday uses the vocabulary and skills of textiles to sculpt forms that often reference body and/or nature. She hand knits wire and other nontraditional materials into forms that often grow from simple elements of nature and life’s daily debris. With her work, she magnifies nature,and references concepts of the feminine through the female form and domesticity.

My Father’s Religion grew from her experience growing up with a father who loved the woods. Her father’s religion was in the woods. The family spent all of their free time in the Northern Woods. At the time Carolyn would have preferred to stay in a hotel. Nonetheless, her father passed his religion onto her.

My Father's Religion is an installation that explores the calligraphic nature of a knit line, pays homage to the sanctuary of the woods, and questions if art, as in the Byzantium, can transform life. This installation is laid out like a Byzantine church(cross shape)The reference to the Byzantine church comes from her fascination with the idea that the images created for the church, during the Byzantium, were allegedly so powerfully beautiful that they converted people to Christianity. Can art or the beauty of nature transform one today?

Opening Reception, June 17, 7-9pm

shown in conjunction with:

It is a process

Carolyn Halliday loves process. She emailed me last week about how much fun she was having in the studio, knitting trees, getting ready. Of course, that was before the usual pre-show panic that all of us artists experience....the sense of running out of time, the self doubt, the tired body, weird dreams.

The main exhibition is complete.The temporary hooks are removed, the lights are adjusted, the shadows are cast. This week, in the run-up to the Surface Design Conference visits on Thursday, Carolyn will be working on the window installation of silver trees.

And I will be ironing muslin to drape the table and the various distracting aspects of the studio. And, making ice for the hot days ahead.

Susan Hensel Gallery is open on Mondays, 10-5. Other days it is wise to call ahead and make an appointment.

The gallery will also be open Thursday, June 9, 10-5.

Open Now: My Father's Religion June 4- July 12 Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm

shown in conjunction with:

Of nature and manmade materials...

Silver Birch Coffee Pot by Carolyn Halliday

Tell me about the role the natural world plays in your work.

I've been inundated my whole life with nature; grew up in a family that spent all of our free time outdoors, camping, etc. All we ever talked about was what bird we had seen, or what might be blooming. I birthed a son who has been obsessed with nature since her was 8 months. So the natural world is a constant source of material and inspiration for my work. Now that I have 2 ecologists/biologists in my family----my son and his soon to be wife, I am actively collaborating with them on work. They inspired the work Druse, referencing the danger of zebra mussels as invasive species. (Made of knit wire with zebra mussel shells) And I am very currently working on pieces that reference Darwin. Part of the point of My Father's Religion, is the necessity of preserving woodlands.

Where does the title My Father's Religion come from?

My Father’s Religion grew from my experience growing up with a father who loved the woods. My father’s religion was in the woods. The family spent all of their free time in the Northern Woods. At the time I would have preferred to stay in a hotel. Nonetheless, my father passed his religion onto me.

Open Now: My Father's Religion June 4- July 12 Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm

shown in conjunction with:

Installation is nearly done!

Installing My Father's Religion, is not difficult, but it is slow and painstaking.


It involves wire, tools, plumbing pipe, picture wire, monofiliment, a level...and forming, re-forming, frogging and knitting.
The day was made much easier by the participation of Mark Carlson.

My Father's Religion is showing in conjunction with :

Opening Soon:

My Father's Religion

June 4- July 12

Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm

A Little Background, Please

Love Song, by Carolyn Halliday

Carolyn Halliday, whose upcoming show My Father's Religion, hangs this week, responded to some questions I emailed her. So, over the next few days, I will share her responses with you.

When did yo learn to knit?

My mom taught me the basics of knitting when I was 8. I don't remember knitting particulars, other than a sweater of sorts for the cat, who preferred not to wear it. As a girl, I was expected to learn the domestic arts, and I did and wanted to learn them all, although I was always pretty imperfect in my skills. In JH home ec, I was told I knit wrong, and relearned knitting. Being left handed, I apparently developed a left handed way to knit (which is now handy to use) but I ripped out the whole sweater that I was working on for the school assignment, so I could re-knit it "correctly".

I remember seeing a spinning wheel at your house. Do you spin?

I saw someone spinning for the first time when I was 17, and I thought it was sheer magic. I was smitten with the idea of making thread from a scrap of fluff. But I didn't see anyone spin again until I learned to spin around 1978, and began using my hand spun for knitting and weaving. (I learned to weave around the same time, in the Portland Parks and Recreation Dept---they offered weaving!) Around 1988, I made a teddy bear of my hand spun for a pregnant friend, and got interested in dimensional knitting. So I started doing other animals, especially fueled by my son, who would tell me, "Now make a cow." I made a few different animals and dolls of hand spun and started to sell them at craft shows, like St Cate's. I should mention that when I moved back to Mpls in December of 1981, I immediately joined the Weaver's Guild of Minnesota, and have been forever grateful for the welcoming community and many classes and opportunities that grounded my early artistic attempts. Through the Weaver's Guild of Minnesota, and then the Textile Center, I learned much about dying, surface design, spinning, felting, paper making.

Opening Soon:

My Father's Religion

June 4- July 12

Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm

Self Portraiture

Carolyn Halliday has done several self portraits in knitted wire. It should come as no surprise that they are non-standard. She translated her body measurements into these forms.

My Father's Religion

June 4-July12

opening reception June 17, 7-9pm

Suited for Metaphor

Suits for lean times.
A suit for the runway.

Libbie Soffer and Carolyn Halliday work at times along the edges of fashion, fashioning wearable and unwearable suits for metaphor.

ars domestica by Libbie Soffer

through May 28.

My Father's Religion by Carolyn Halliday

June 4-July 12

reception June 17, 7-9pm

Fashioning the unwearable

Fashioning the unwearable

Between the dress for two with no hem and the kimono from sharp brass flashing, Libbie and Carolyn both share a love of fashion as metaphor.

ars domestica, by Libbie Soffer continues through May 28. The last Mending Circle Monday, May 23, noon-5.

My Father's Religion by Carolyn Halliday runs June 4-July 12, with an opening reception June 17, 7-9pm.

Her show is in conjunction with: